Once upon a time, before Noah and I got married, I worked as a daycare provider for seven years. I did a little bit of everything. Every summer I was in charge of "Bible Time" for all of the kids from Kindergarten through sixth grade. And then in the school year I was in charge of the same age group for the after school hours, 3:30-6:00pm, creating lesson plans and keeping them on schedule. There was also time to play in the gym, on the playground, sometimes there were special trips to the library or a local park, I read to the kids a lot, and during my last school year working there we learned about every state in America as a lead up to my moving to Michigan. It was tough to leave the kids I had watched grow up for the past seven years, but I was also excited for my new life and husband-to-be waiting for me in Michigan.
You would think all of those years spent creating lesson plans would kick into gear when it came time to put together activities for my own kids. But alas, sometimes my tired mom brain just can't fathom how to occupy the littles who are running around the house while yelling nonsense.
Enter "Busy Toddler". I once put out a plea on Facebook for activities to engage our then two year old daughter as I was trying to handle little baby Oliver who didn't believe in sleeping. A friend of mine recommended Busy Toddler and I immediately looked her up on Instagram and browsed through her website.
I have come back to her website multiple times to find new activities when the kids are bored or I'm needing something particularly engaging to keep them occupied.
Since Noah was laid off in April I haven't been on my own with the kids as much as I used to. But recently he has been gone more often doing work for his parents so I've had to re-learn how to handle the kids by myself during the day. I've had some rough days but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it again.
On a particular morning I was very groggy, had a stuffy head, and knew I really needed a game plan to make it through the day. Thankfully I had thought ahead and prepared some steel cut oats the night before to make breakfast easy. After the three of us ate breakfast together I set the kids up with Room On The Broom on Netflix so I could sit down with some coffee and my notebook to plan out the day and find activities for the kids on Busy Toddler.
I did a variation of this sticker activity with Adeline and she LOVED it. She did this activity for at least an hour and then asked to do it again later in the afternoon.
Oliver has a much shorter attention span than Adeline (understandably, since he's younger than her) so he blew through activities much quicker than she did. I started him off with the toy push activity, which I already knew he would enjoy because he loves to put things into other things. Then I tried out the tape resist activity with him, which I remember doing with Adeline when she was younger, but Oliver wasn't that interested in it. Next I set him up with an activity similar to this oatmeal sensory bin but with kidney beans, some bowls, and a funnel. He really enjoyed playing with the dry beans.
Later in the day after quiet time I set Adeline up with a combination of this hidden colors activity and "making potions". I put the food coloring and baking soda in an ice cube tray, the diluted vinegar went into a little spray bottle, I whipped up some frothy soap in a cup, gave her a couple bowls, a spoon, and a funnel. Every thing went onto a baking tray and I took it outside to the deck so she would be free to make a mess without spilling anything indoors. She played at this little experiment station for a full hour!
Oliver was a little harder to keep happy in the afternoon. He was kind of cranky, maybe he didn't nap enough, I'm not sure what was going on with him that day. I tried several different games and activities with him but he wasn't having it.
It eventually got late enough in the day that I needed to prepare dinner so I set the kids up with a movie while I worked in the kitchen. Sometimes the kids are cranky and getting hungry in the late afternoon and watching a move is what needs to happen to keep them out of the kitchen so I can prepare dinner without having them clinging to my legs and asking for snacks.
I honestly don't remember how the rest of the day went after dinner, but I was pleased with how things had gone overall and thankful to have Busy Toddler as a resource to help my tired mom brain when the kids obviously need some kind of mental stimulation but I simply can't think of what to do with them.
Something else that really helps me on the days when I am on my own with the kids is giving myself ample time alone so I can recharge my batteries and make it through the rest of the day. We'll eat lunch a little early, around 11:30, so that the kids are upstairs in their rooms by 12:00 and then quiet time lasts until 2:00. If Adeline sleeps any later than 2:00 then she ends up being awake way too late when it's bedtime. Oliver has recently switched from taking two naps to just one nap so it has become much easier to sync their quiet times.
I am hoping that as the kids get older they will be able to occupy themselves better and I think setting them up with specific activities now gives them an opportunity to learn how to play on their own without needing me to supervise them every minute. I also look forward to the day when they are both old enough to just run around outside without supervision. They LOVE to play outside but at least Oliver definitely still needs to be supervised when he's outdoors.
For anyone else needing some activity ideas for their kiddos, check out Busy Toddler!
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